4 men jailed without bond after running 'Grandparent Scam' in Allegheny, Westmoreland counties, troopers say

Four men are in the Westmoreland County Prison without bond after their arrests on theft and conspiracy charges for running what state police called a “Grandparent Scam” that bilked at least $250,000 from 10 senior citizens in Allegheny and Westmoreland counties since Monday.

Terek Bouanane, 45, and Roderick E. Feurtado, 54, both of Las Vegas; Roberto A. Gutierrez, 49, of Los Angeles; and Robi Feurtado-Castillo, 53, of Panama, are charged with multiple counts of theft, conspiracy and running corrupt organization charges, Trooper Steve Limani said.

Allegheny County victims include residents in Bethel Park, Canton Township, North Fayette and Upper St. Clair; two were in White Oak and three in Pittsburgh. The two victims from Westmoreland lived in Hempfield and Unity. Police say all of the victims thought they were providing cash to couriers to bail relatives out of jail.

According to Limani, grandparent telephone scams have been around for years, in which someone calls posing as policeman or court official and urges the victim to buy gift cards, wire money or transfer funds in some other way to help a loved one in a legal bind.

But these current cases have a new twist in Western Pennsylvania that “are much more brazen and emboldened,” Limani said.

“These thieves end up coming to the victim’s homes posing as bail bondsmen to pick up cash,” he said. “It’s happened in the eastern part of the state before, but we haven’t seen it locally here until now.”

The Unity theft began with a phone call about 10 a.m. Tuesday. An elderly woman reported that a person called claiming to be her nephew and said he was in jail as the result of a fatal traffic accident and needed $12,000 bail, according to court documents.

The woman later received a call from an unknown woman claiming to be her nephew’s attorney, who provided more details of the fictional crash “and said that her nephew would remain in jail unless the $12,000 was raised,” Trooper Daniel Poponick reported.

“The woman then told the victim that a bail bondsman would arrive at her residence to pick up the money. They actually send out runners to pick up the cash,” Limani said.

Limani said troopers scoured the area after the transaction looking for the suspect to no avail. However, troopers put out an alert to area police departments about the scam.

“We were fortunate and lucked out,” Limani admitted.

Bethel Park police called state police in Greensburg on Wednesday to report that a potential victim there was dubious after he was contacted in a similar scheme that was to be finalized that afternoon.

When Gutierrez showed up at the victim’s Allegheny County residence around 3:30 p.m. posing as a bail bondsman, Bethel Park police took him into custody, Poponick wrote in court documents.

Poponick said Gutierrez already had “thousands of dollars in cash” in his possession and the dark sedan he used matched the description of a vehicle used in similar scams in the area.

During the investigation, Gutierrez told police he collected about $50,000 in similar scams that began in the area Monday, Poponick reported.

Police later arrested the others at the Pittsburgh Airport Marriott and the Hyatt Place Pittsburgh Airport hotels, according to court documents.

Feurtado had a shoebox containing $220,000 cash inside his room at the Marriott, which he told authorities was collected from the schemes, Poponick reported. Police also seized about $15,000 from Bouanane’s room at the Hyatt, according to court documents.

Investigators reported the runners would keep “about 8%” of the so-called bail money.

Limani said investigators do not know who the female participant was, “but we would like to know if anyone has information.”

He also said investigators do not know how victims were selected.

“We found, all at the same time, there were multiple scams — at least 10 — going on. The thing we’re most concerned about is, when people prey on the elderly, there’s multiple scams that take place before we become aware,” Limani said.

He urged anyone who might have been the target of such a scam to contact state or local police through 911.

The men were arraigned Thursday before Jeannette District Judge Joseph DeMarchis, who ordered they be held without bond because they are considered flight risks.

In April, the Berks County District Attorney’s office announced five New York men had been arrested for allegedly bilking about $240,000 from around two dozen victims in that area.